locked out of laptop, need to bypass windows password

We bought a HP pavillion from a person on Craigslist but later found out they have a windows password and now we are unable to contact them. If you have any idea how we are able to bypass please let us know. Thank you

Re: locked out of laptop, need to bypass windows password

The best thing to do is to use the HP Recovery Disks and bring the laptop back to a day one factory condition. This is a good idea for many reasons. If you don't have the HP Recovery Disks then order a set from HP (~$20). HP Recovery Disks. The sticker on the laptop should give you all the information that you will need to give HP. If the sticker was removed, then boot into the bios (setup) and look for the model, build and serial number etc..